Factors Affecting the Reading Comprehension of Intermediate Level Learners: Basis for An Intervention Program

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Factors Affecting the Reading Comprehension of Intermediate Level Learners: Basis for An Intervention Program
International Journal of Academic Management Science Research (IJAMSR)
ISSN: 2643-900X
Vol.5 Issue 5, May – 2021, Pages: 15-22

   Factors Affecting the Reading Comprehension of Intermediate
        Level Learners: Basis for An Intervention Program
                                                           Rossana C. Torres
                                              Department of Education (DepEd) – Philippines
                                                SDO City of Malolos, Bulacan, Philippines
                                                     rossana.cabigao@deped.gov.ph

Abstract: The study generally aims to determine the factors affecting the reading comprehension of intermediate-level learners of
the City of Malolos Integrated School-Babatnin as a basis for the development of an intervention program. A quantitative type of
research using the descriptive-survey method was employed to describe “what is”, which was the process of this study, using survey
instruments and texts as reading exercises of the learners. From the findings, the study concluded that (1) strategy of the teacher did
not affect the reading comprehension of the learners, (2) home-related factors affect the reading comprehension of the learners, (3)
learners who did not read reading materials at house or school affect their reading comprehension skills, and (4) learner-related
factors such as prior knowledge, understanding, and motivation if low hindered the reading comprehension skills of the students.
The study recommends to (1) conduct the same study in different schools and different grade levels, (2) conduct programs to motivate
learners in reading and improve their reading skills as well, (3) orient parents that reading materials in the house are important and
this will help their children to improve reading skills, (4) think of other strategies wherein learners will be motivated to read.
Keywords — Reading Comprehension; Teacher-Related Factor, Home-Related Factor, Learner-Related Factor; Intervention
Program

1. INTRODUCTION                                                        Furthermore, researchers in education also find out that there
                                                                       is a strong correlation between reading and academic success.
    Reading is one of the most essential skills and starting point
                                                                       In other words, learners who are good readers are more likely
of the individual to learn everything around him. This is
                                                                       to do well in school and pass the examinations than learners
fundamentally important to attain and achieve learning in
                                                                       who are weak readers. The building of their vocabulary
school and throughout life. This skill empowers learners to
                                                                       through reading helps expand learners’ language resulting in
understand text, images, and their message, to deepen their
                                                                       effective oral and non-verbal communication. The two main
knowledge about beliefs, practices, and to ensure that these
                                                                       problems of Filipino learners in reading were presented by
will be transferred to the next generation, and to connect his
                                                                       Miciano (2007), which states that (1) learners read but show
previous experiences with their new learning. Being one of the
                                                                       difficulty to comprehend what they have read, Filipino learners
macro skills in language learning (Cabigaoa, 2012; Cabigaob,
                                                                       are generally good at reading for details but, unless the article
2012), reading skills must be developed among our learners in
                                                                       explicitly labels it, they often miss the main idea, and (2)
preparation for the higher stages of their studies.
                                                                       learners altogether misunderstand the details and surely get the
    As Alexander (2007) said, “Reading is more important               wrong picture.
today than it ever was as it is crucial to being an informed
                                                                          But the truth is that there is no non-reader, there are only
citizen, to succeed in one’s chosen career, and to personal
                                                                       non-decoders. Non-decoders refer to those who can read but
fulfillment. People thought technology would decrease the
                                                                       do not understand what they have read. Reading and
need to read. On the contrary, today one finds more access to
                                                                       comprehension are two different things, but inseparable.
text than ever, more specialized magazines, more books
                                                                       Reading is comprehension itself. If information is not
published, more newspapers, and more articles read on the
                                                                       processed, if comprehension has not taken place, then reading
internet”. This means that reading has become more important
                                                                       has not occurred (Flood & Lapp, 1992).
even before the boost of technological advancements. Francis
Bacon (1561-1626) stressed the importance of reading to                   According to Bernardez (2009), “reading is the art of
everyone. According to him, “Reading maketh a full man” that           knowing and of understanding the meaning of printed words
is how readers have personal fulfillment.                              or written symbols hence, reading is plain comprehension”.
                                                                       Comprehension is essentially the ability to understand what
    According to Brynes (1998) in Dala (2008), good or
                                                                       has been read. According to Melon-Galvez and Dela Cerna
proficient readers read extensively, integrate information in the
                                                                       (2010), the word comprehension is derived from the Latin
text with existing knowledge, have a flexible reading style
                                                                       word “prehendre” meaning “to seize”, which is the art or
depending on what learners are reading, are motivated, rely on
                                                                       capacity to understand.
different skills interacting such as perceptual processing,
phonemic processing, recall, and read for a purpose.

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International Journal of Academic Management Science Research (IJAMSR)
ISSN: 2643-900X
Vol.5 Issue 5, May – 2021, Pages: 15-22

    Bernardez (2009) added that there are four levels of                 meaning but the meaning is created by using previously
comprehension namely:           literal level, interpretative level,     acquired knowledge or schemata. About the present study,
critical level, and application level. On the literal level,             Schema theory explains how learners’ knowledge is used for
learners are expected to understand the basic information of             making connections for better reading comprehension and how
what they read, this may include identifying the characters in           schema (prior knowledge) can be a big factor and plays a vital
the story. The second level is the interpretative level, this is         role in students reading comprehension.
where the learners are expected to read between the lines.
                                                                             One Second Reading Theory
Readers are expected to see what the writer wants to imply
regarding a certain situation in a reading passage. In the critical          According to Philp Goughs (1972) in Brown (2000), one
level, the third level, learners are expected to judge or criticize      second of the reading model suggests that reading is a
the work of a writer. For example, a teacher may ask the                 sequential mental process, and the emphasis is on the smaller
learners if the ending or the title is appropriate for a piece of        speech sounds which are connected to form individual words.
written work and they need to justify their answers. And lastly,         Decoding is essential to the reading process. Contrary to the
the highest level which is the application level is where the            whole language approach which supports the meaning first, the
learners are expected to apply what they have read through               understanding of the author’s message comes last. Readers can
different activities. For example, the learners will write a short       grasp higher-level text than they can decode. This inability
paragraph about the theme of a certain piece of written work.            prevents the reader from accessing more difficult text.
                                                                         Concerning the present study, this theory explains when
    Through reading and by the grasping of information in the
                                                                         learners emphasize decoding rather than on the meaning of the
text, comprehension developed. Comprehension development
                                                                         written text.
requires that learners draw meaning from the processes of
analyzing, interpreting, and responding to narrative and                     Bottom-up Theory
expository text. Analyzing is to examine and explore how
                                                                             The Bottom-Up is a theory on reading comprehension that
ideas are organized and how that organization contributes to
                                                                         responds to the process of decoding and translating words or
the meaning of a text. Then Interpreting follows, as you are
trying to find the meaning and the significance of the text as in        written symbols into a simple and plain language (Goodman,
making adaptation and representation. You are asking yourself            1985 in Bernardez, 2009). In this theory, readers recognized
                                                                         first letters and words before phrases, clauses, and sentences
both what the text means and why it is important, seeing how
                                                                         could be comprehended. The Bottom-Up theory is based upon
they relate to each other to find the meaning and importance of
                                                                         the behavioral theory that the brain is likened to a certain sheet
it. While the purpose of an expository text is to explain,
                                                                         of paper or Tabula rasa which absorbs or receives a message
discuss, give directions, or inform the readers of what the text
is all about and why it exists. Experts get to involve themselves        for the first time and the interpretation of such message is only
in writing and searching related theories, strategies, methods,          based upon the initial symbol that the mind understands
                                                                         without the aid of any form of promptings (Bernardez, 2009).
reinforcements to encourage the growth and development of
                                                                         This means that the reading process begins from the bottom,
the learners’ knowledge based on their needs about reading.
                                                                         from merely reading the text, and going up to the mind, without
    Schema Theory                                                        taking into consideration the readers’ experiences and prior
                                                                         knowledge. This theory emphasizes that the interaction
    One of the theories of cognitive psychology that influence
                                                                         between the reader and the text includes little or no inference
current thinking about reading is the Schema theory (Anderson
                                                                         from the readers’ background knowledge. Concerning the
and Person, 1984 & Rumelhart, 1980 in Ambruster & Osborn,
                                                                         present study, this explains how some learners read the reading
2002), this theory explains how individuals acquire, store, and
                                                                         text in a way where they plainly understand it without
use knowledge in reading a text. According to this theory,
                                                                         reference to their prior knowledge.
readers understand what they read only when it has a
connection to what they already know. The readers construct                  Top-down Theory
meaning from text by connecting information in the text with
                                                                             Top-down theory for reading comprehension utilizes the
their background knowledge (Ambruster & Osborn, 2002).
                                                                         process of reconstructing the meaning of sentences rather than
Learners with greater prior knowledge comprehend and
                                                                         decoding or translating them (Goodman, 1985 in Bernardez,
remember more what they have read because they can build
                                                                         2009). This theory emphasizes meaning rather than analyzing
connections between what they are reading and what they
know.                                                                    the series of written symbols and it depends on the reader’s
                                                                         prior knowledge and experiences the meaning he will get from
    According to Nunan (1999), as cited by Fernandez (2008),             the written text. This mirrors the principle of Gestalt
schema theory is based on the notion that past experiences lead          psychology that says, “the whole is greater than the sum of its
to the creation of mental frameworks that help us make sense             parts” (Frando et, al. 2009) in this process, the readers’ primary
of new experiences. In which the written material and the                tool is their prior knowledge in synthesizing the meaning of the
readers’ prior knowledge interact with one another and at the            statements and making it as a whole. Grabe and Stoller (2001)
same time, stress out the point that written text does not carry         in Fernandez (2008) emphasize that the top-down reading

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                                                                                                                                        16
International Journal of Academic Management Science Research (IJAMSR)
ISSN: 2643-900X
Vol.5 Issue 5, May – 2021, Pages: 15-22

model assumes the reading is primarily directed by the readers’         reading have more or less than three years of experience, and
goals and expectations, that is why top-down models are                 (b) majority of the teaching methods were always used by
characterized the readers as someone who has a set of                   teachers in reading instruction. The oral reading instruction
expectations about the text information and samples enough              was the best used by the teachers. She concluded that the
information from the text to confirm or reject these                    teacher factor has no significant effect on the learners’ reading
expectations. This theory is relevant to the present study              skills. This study and her study both focus on reading ability.
because it gives way to the idea that readers’ prior knowledge          Her study focuses on predictors to identify the reading ability
and experiences play a vital role in their comprehension of the         of the learners while this study focuses on factors hindering
written text. This draws a particular realization of the Schema         reading comprehension.
theory and just the opposite of bottom-up theory.
                                                                            De Leon (2009), in her unpublished thesis Factors
    Automaticity Theory                                                 Affecting the Reading Skills of Grade 2 found out the easiest
                                                                        for the respondents among the various areas of the reading
     According to Brown, 2000, this theory was developed by
                                                                        program were organizing ideas, getting the main idea, and
La Berge and Samuels in 1974 wherein the idea is based on the
                                                                        following directions. Her study focuses on the Grade 2 learners
premise that the human mind functions like a computer and has
                                                                        while this study focuses on intermediate pupils. This study
limited capacity for multitasking. Therefore, the process of
                                                                        focuses on comprehension while her study focuses on reading
decoding the written text and understanding what has been
                                                                        skills. Her study focuses on factors affecting reading
read cannot happen simultaneously. In this theory, all readers
                                                                        comprehension while this study focuses on factors hindering
start in the same position: by knowing nothing, or at least very
                                                                        reading comprehension.
little about letter words, and sentence structures. One process
will undeniably interfere with the other and diminish the               2. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
process of each. In this manner, the readers tend to repeat
                                                                            Comprehending what has been read is already a skill in
reading the text, again and again, to comprehend its meaning
                                                                        reading, and this includes some other skills in reading such as
and place it in their brain where they will never be forgotten.
                                                                        vocabulary skills, noting details, getting the main idea,
In relevance to the present study, automaticity theory will
                                                                        predicting outcome, and making inferences. Vocabulary skills
provide some ideas why some learners could not comprehend
                                                                        deal with knowing the words they encounter in a written text.
a text in just one reading. This idea may be proven or not at the
                                                                        Noting details refer to getting the small elements that
end of this study.
                                                                        collectively constitute a piece of work. It may include the
    Mendoza (1987) conducted a study entitled Mastery                   elements of a story such as characters and settings. Next is
Learning in the Teaching of Reading (Grade III Level) in                getting the main idea, a reader/learner can understand and get
Paombong District, Division of Bulacan: School Year 1985-               what the author wants to say. It is also known as the central
1986. Her study found out that there were no significant                idea of a written text. Predicting outcome refers to the ability
differences in the reading performance of the learners on word          of a reader to predict what will happen next based on what he
recognition, comprehension, and study skills when they were             reads on the earlier content of a written text (Melon-Galvez &
grouped according to sex and location. This study and her               Dela Cerna, 2010), and lastly, according to De Leon (2009),
study both have the same topic, which is reading, and it also           inferring refers to the educational guess, it is also known as
deals with the students reading abilities. The difference is that       reading between the lines. Authors may not directly give the
this study focuses only on reading comprehension while her              message of what they write but readers may understand the
study focuses on the mastering of learning of reading which             idea of the writer through inferring. This study focuses on the
includes word recognition skills and comprehension. Another             reading comprehension of intermediate-level learners and the
difference is that the respondents of her study are Grade 3             possible factors affecting their reading comprehension.
learners while this study has Grades 4 to 6 learners.
                                                                            Rubin and Opitz (2007), differentiate educational and non-
    Valencia (2006) conducted a study entitled Predictors of            educational factors that may affect the learners’ performance
Reading Level Ability of Grade III Pupils on Selected Public            in reading. Educational factors refer to those factors that come
Schools. This study sought to find factors that could predict the       under the control of the educational system and influence
reading level ability of the learners. For the s learners’ profile,     learning; this may include the teaching method, instructional
the following were identified: (a) most of the learners used            time, and school environment. Non-educational factors refer to
textbooks in the library. Available magazine and dictionary in          factors that do not come under the control of the educational
the library are often used by them and they rarely used journals        system and cannot influence by it, this includes home
and newspaper while they never used encyclopedia; and (b) the           environment, understanding, motivation, and prior knowledge.
common reading materials used by the learners in their home
                                                                            The researcher believes that these factors will be helpful in
are books compare to the other reading materials that they
                                                                        this study. These will be used as the basis for identifying the
often or rarely used newspaper, magazines, workbook, and
                                                                        factors affecting the reading comprehension of the Grades 4 to
dictionary. For the teachers’ profile, the following were
                                                                        6 learners.
identified: (a) the Grade 3 teachers’ experience in teaching

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International Journal of Academic Management Science Research (IJAMSR)
ISSN: 2643-900X
Vol.5 Issue 5, May – 2021, Pages: 15-22

    Figure 1 presents the conceptual model of the study. The             3.    Are there significant relationships between the
horizontal line connects the independent variables to the                      educational and non-educational factors and the
dependent variables to suggest its relationship. The first frame               reading comprehension of the learners?
consisted of two parts: the first part is the level of reading           4.    Based on the research, what intervention program
comprehension and the second part is the educational and non-                  may be formulated to further compose the reading
educational factors namely, home-related factors, teacher-                     comprehension of the learners?
related factors, and learner-related factors, as the independent
                                                                     4. HYPOTHESIS
variable. The second frame contains the dependent variable
which is the learners’ reading comprehension. After                      This study was guided by this hypothesis: There is no
identifying the relationship between the two sets of variables,      significant relationship between the educational and non-
the study attempted to recommend a reading intervention              educational factors and the reading comprehension of the
program.                                                             learners.
                                                                     5. METHOD
                                                                         Type of Research
                                                                         The researcher used a quantitative type of research using
                                                                     the descriptive survey method. Descriptive research describes
                                                                     current events and that the research questions or problems
                                                                     raised are based on the appreciation of present phenomena,
                                                                     events, or situations (Ariola, 2006), or simply it is designed to
                                                                     provide a snapshot of the current state of affairs (Cabigao,
                                                                     2019). The purpose of this method is to describe “what is”,
                                                                     which was the process of this study. They identified the factors
           Fig. 1. The Conceptual Model of the Study
                                                                     hindering reading comprehension and attempted to analyze,
3. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM                                          interpret, and report the present status of the intermediate
                                                                     pupils in their reading comprehension.
    The general problem of the study is: What are the factors
affecting the reading comprehension of intermediate level                Respondents and Sampling Method
learners of the City of Malolos Integrated School-Babatnin as            The researcher used random sampling. Unrestricted
a basis for the development of an intervention program?
                                                                     random sampling is where all the members of a population
   Specifically, this study sought answers to the following          have a chance to be included in the sample. There is no
questions:                                                           restriction being imposed in this kind of sampling. Under
                                                                     random sampling, the lottery technique is being used in this
     1.   What is the level of comprehension of intermediate-        study. Here, each member of the population is assigned a
          level learners?                                            certain number and these numbers will be written on pieces of
     2.   How may the following educational and non-                 paper and be drawn one at a time (Calmorin & Calmorin,
          educational factors affect the reading                     2007).
          comprehension of the learners in terms of:
          2.1 home-related factor;                                       Research Instrument
               2.1.1    parents’ educational attainment;
                                                                         This research used a questionnaire for gathering data to
               2.1.2    parents’ occupation;                         identify the factors affecting the reading comprehension of the
               2.1.3    number of siblings;                          learners. This study used three (3) sets of questionnaires: one
          2.2 teacher-related factor;
                                                                     is for the teacher-respondents that consists of the school factors
               2.2.1    teachers’ educational attainment;
                                                                     and the other two are for the learner-respondents that indicates
               2.2.2    teachers’ relevant training and
                                                                     the reading materials in the school library and at home, and
                        seminar;                                     other factors such as teacher factor, motivation, prior
               2.2.3    teaching strategy;                           knowledge, and understanding. The other factors are not
          2.3 learner-related factor;
                                                                     directly implied in the questions and they are randomly
               2.3.1    prior knowledge;
                                                                     arranged. Same with the test questions in reading
               2.3.2    understanding;
                                                                     comprehension, the test items consist of the level of
               2.3.3    motivation;
                                                                     comprehension which is a literal, interpretative, and critical
          2.4 number of learners;                                    level, and the questions are also randomly arranged. The
          2.5 textbooks-learner ratio; and                           questionnaire for the teacher and learner-respondents were
          2.6 reading selections give every week?
                                                                     adapted and modified by the researcher from a previous study
                                                                     conducted by De Leon (2009) moreover the test questions in

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                                                                                                                                    18
International Journal of Academic Management Science Research (IJAMSR)
ISSN: 2643-900X
Vol.5 Issue 5, May – 2021, Pages: 15-22

reading comprehension are adapted in reading a passage from            homogenous. Moreover, at the interpretative level, they got a
the internet which were validated by the experts.                      weighted mean of 2 and 0.94 as their standard deviation and
                                                                       this shows that the level of reading comprehension of the
    Data Collection Procedure
                                                                       respondents at the interpretative level is heterogeneous.
    The researcher is fortunate to be one of the teachers at the       Likewise, in the critical level of reading comprehension, the
intermediate level of City of Malolos Integrated School-               respondents got a weighted mean of 1.03 and a standard
Babatnin under study. With the endorsement of the School               deviation of 0.85, wherein it shows that the respondents are
Head, together with the school English Coordinator the                 heterogeneous when it comes to this level. This means that
researcher personally distributed questionnaires to the                most of the learners do not see what the writer wants to imply
respondents by the second week of October 2016. The data               in a reading passage and cannot justify their answers in
gathered will be tabulated manually. The researcher used               criticizing the work of a writer.
formulas and dummy tables to organize, summarize, analyze,
                                                                          The researchers divided the respondents into half, based on
and interpret the data to describe and determine the factors
                                                                       what they got on the questionnaire given by the researchers.
affecting the reading comprehension of the learners.
                                                                       The first will be those who got 8 and above which will be the
    Data Analysis                                                      high scores and the second group will be those who got 7 and
                                                                       below. A record of 18 students got high scores and 12 learners
    The statistical techniques used in the interpretation of data
                                                                       who got low scores.
and in testing the null hypotheses will include the mean,
standard deviation, and weighted mean. The Mean is used to                 Table 2 presents the weighted mean for learners who got
locate where an individual belongs within a group and to               high scores and low scores in terms of how often they read the
determine the level of comprehension of the learners. The              reading materials available in their school and home. This
Standard Deviation (SD) is used in comparing groups. The               determined if the reading materials are one of the factors that
higher the SD, the more heterogenous is the group in each level        hinder the respondents’ reading comprehension.
of comprehension. The smaller the SD, the more homogenous
                                                                         Table 2: Weighted Mean for High Scores Group and Low
is the group in each level of comprehension. the Weighted
                                                                               Scores Group in terms of Reading Materials
Mean (WM) is used to know the average answers of the
learner-respondents in the reading materials they used to read           HIGH SCORES
                                                                                                   Responses
                                                                                                                    Mean
                                                                                                                               Verbal
in the school library and at home and in other factors. The                                   5    4    3 2    1           Interpretation
                                                                         1. Reading Materials at Home
answers regarding the reading materials in the school library            a.   Textbooks       9    5    2 2     0   6.25   Always
and at home used by the learners and in other factors were               b. Journals          2    5    4 4     3   4.42   Often
counted using a five-point scale:                                        c.   Magazines       1    2    2 6     6   3.08   Sometimes
                                                                         d. Newspaper         1    1    4 5     7   3.17   Sometimes
    Scale        Range           Description/Interpretation              e.   Dictionary      9    7    1 1     0   6.50   Always
      5        4.50 – 5.00                 Always                        f.   Encyclopedia 0       0    0 5    13   1.92   Rarely
      4        3.50 – 4.49                  Often                                     General Average               4.06   Often
      3        2.50 – 3.49               Sometimes                       2. Reading Materials at School
                                                                         a.   Textbooks       5    8    2 3     0   5.25   Always
      2        1.50 – 2.49                 Rarely
                                                                         b. Journals          3    3    3 4     5   4.08   Often
      1        1.00 – 1.49                 Never                         c.   Magazines       1    2    3 5     7   3.25   Sometimes
                                                                         d. Newspaper         1    2    3 6     6   3.33   Sometimes
6. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION                                                e.   Dictionary      4 10 2 2          0   5.83   Always
    Table 1 presents the mean score and the standard deviation           f.   Encyclopedia 1       1    0 5    11   2.25   Rarely
                                                                                      General Average               4.29   Often
of the learners in each level. The level of comprehension                3. Reading Materials at Home
includes literal level, interpretative level, critical level, and        a.   Textbooks       4    3    3 1    1    3.67   Often
application level. This study did not cover the application level        b. Journals          2    1    4 2    3    2.75   Sometimes
because it is more on the psychomotor skills of the learners.            c.   Magazines       1    0    7 4    0    2.83   Sometimes
                                                                         d. Newspaper         1    3    2 3    3    2.67   Sometimes
 Table 1: The Mean Score and the Standard Deviation of the               e.   Dictionary      4    2    3 1    2    3.42   Sometimes
   Levels of the Reading Comprehension of the Learners                   f.   Encyclopedia 1       1    1 1    8    1.83   Rarely
                                                                                      General Average               2.87   Sometimes
         Levels of Comprehension          Mean     SD                    4. Reading Materials at School
                   Literal                2.89     1.39                  a.   Textbooks       3    5    4 0    0    3.92       Often
               Interpretative              2        .94                  b. Journals          1    1    5 4    1    2.75   Sometimes
                                                                         c.   Magazines       3    3    2 3    1    3.33   Sometimes
                  Critical                1.03      .85                  d. Newspaper         0    1    2 5    4      2    Rarely
                                                                         e.   Dictionary      7    1    4 0    0    4.25   Often
                                                                         f.   Encyclopedia 0       0    2 2    8     1.5   Rarely
   The learners got a weighted mean of 2.89 in the literal level                      General Average               2.96   Sometimes
with a standard deviation of 1.39. This means that the level of
comprehension of the respondents at the literal level is

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International Journal of Academic Management Science Research (IJAMSR)
ISSN: 2643-900X
Vol.5 Issue 5, May – 2021, Pages: 15-22

    The weighted mean of respondents who got high scores in             learn from previous reading to understand what they are
terms of how often they read reading materials at home is 4.06          reading in a present time.
(often) while those who are under the low scores only got a
                                                                            The weighted mean for the understanding of the learners is
weighted mean of 2.87 (sometimes). This shows the
                                                                        that 1.11 for high scores and 1.0. This means never in the scale.
relationship between reading materials available in the
                                                                        The learners believe that they use their intelligence to
respondents’ home and their level of comprehension. The
                                                                        understand and decode the meaning of the text. This has
support of parents at home by providing a conducive learning
                                                                        something to do with bottom-up, one-second theory, and
environment is vital for the learning journey of schoolchildren
                                                                        automaticity theory, which explains if one perceives the words
(Cabigao, 2014). On the other hand, the weighted mean got by
                                                                        in the text, they decode its meaning and in decoding, he uses
the respondents in high score in terms of how often they read
                                                                        his intelligence to understand the meaning of the reading text.
reading materials at school library is 4.29 (often) compared to
                                                                        This has something to do also with top-down theory for reading
the weighted mean of the respondents in a low score which is
                                                                        comprehension utilize the process of reconstructing the
only 2.96 (sometimes) that means, learners who got high score
                                                                        meaning of sentences rather than decoding or translating them
in the questionnaire given by the researchers maximize the use
                                                                        (Goodman, 1985 in Bernardez, 2009). Intelligence is needed
of the library but those who got low scores to lack initiative to
                                                                        for the students to understand the text. Low understanding
read as interpreted by the researchers.
                                                                        affects the reading comprehension skills of the students.
   Table 3 presents the weighted mean for the high and low
                                                                             The weighted mean for motivation of the learners to read
scores group in terms of teacher and learner-related factors.
                                                                        is 2.67 for the high scores and 2.0 for the low scores. On the
Table 3: Weighted Mean for the High and Low Scores Group                scale, this means that the high score is sometimes motivated to
     in Terms of Teacher and Learner-Related Factors                    read while rarely for the low score group. If they are motivated
                  Weighte        Verbal       Weighte    Verbal
                                                                        to read, they will read more reading materials, they will learn
                    d         Interpretatio     d       Interpret-      more and they will acquire sufficient prior knowledge.
                   Mean             n          Mean       ation         According to Miller (2003) as cited by Umali (2013) teachers
                   High                        Low                      promote motivation if they encourage the students to develop
                  Scores                      Scores                    their higher levels of responsibility for their learning.
    Teacher        3.33        Sometimes       2.50     Sometime
     factor                                                s            Likewise, a challenging task often requires learners to use prior
                            Learner Factors                             knowledge and construct an understanding of a topic. Low
 Prior               4.0          Often         4.0       Often         motivation hinders the reading comprehension of the students,
 knowledge                                                              for example in the low scores group they are least motivated,
 Understandin       1.11          Never         1.0       Never
 g of the
                                                                        and they do not read reading materials that much, as a result,
 learner                                                                they do not have sufficient prior knowledge to understand a
 Motivation to      2.67        Sometimes       2.0     Sometime        reading text. The general average of the weighted mean for the
 read                                                      s            learner factor is 2.59 for the high scores and 2.33 for the low
 General            2.59       Sometimes       2.33      Rarely         scores.
 Average
                                                                            Table 4 presents the data gathered about other school
    The weighted mean of the teacher factor is 3.33 for the high
                                                                        factors.
score and 2.50 for the low score. From scale this means that all
the learners sometimes understand their teacher, this means                         Table 4: Data of Other School Factors
that the strategy or method of the teacher do not hinder reading
comprehension skills because there are a lot of learners who                      Other School Factors                     Figure
got high score.                                                                Number of learners per class                10-16
                                                                                  Textbook-learner ratio                     1:1
    The weighted mean of the learner factors in terms of prior                Selections were given per week                  2
knowledge is that 4.0 for the high scores and 4.0 for the low
scores. This means that learners in the high scores and low                  These school factors have no significant relationship to the
scores often understand the selection when they have                    factors hindering the reading comprehension skills of the
background knowledge about it. This has something to do with            learners because even though they have this data in the school
schema theory wherein it states that readers construct meaning          still there are a lot of learners who got high scores.
from text by connecting information in the text with their              7. CONCLUSIONS
background knowledge (Ambruster & Osborn, 2002). This
means that insufficient prior knowledge hinders the reading                 1.    The strategy of the teacher did not affect the reading
comprehension of the learners. The researchers notice that the                    comprehension of the learners. In the study of
high score group got the higher weighted mean for reading the                     Valencia (2006), she got the same result that the
reading materials in school and at home, they concluded that                      teacher factor has no significant effect on the
students who read more, know more and they used what they                         learners’ reading skills.

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                                                                                                                                      20
International Journal of Academic Management Science Research (IJAMSR)
ISSN: 2643-900X
Vol.5 Issue 5, May – 2021, Pages: 15-22

     2.   Home-related factors have a very significant effect                    check comprehension frequently (Comprehension
          that affects the reading comprehension of the                          check-up).     Test comprehension with student-
          learners. This is tested by the respondents whose                      friendly questions using the four-level of
          parents’ educational level had only attained                           comprehension. Provide learners with many ways to
          elementary education. If parents have a good                           show what they know, use graphic organizers, and
          educational background, it would be easier for them                    then summarize. It may be challenging to improve
          to lead and help their children in their academic                      learners’ comprehension skills, but it is well worth
          difficulties, especially in reading. Same as in parent’s               the extra effort to put them on the path to becoming
          occupation and several siblings, where nutritious                      successful readers.
          food intake is possible if family income is suitable for
                                                                       9. REFERENCES
          family’s need.
                                                                       [1] Alexander,         F.     (2007).      Sylvian     Tutor.
     3.   Learners who did not read reading materials at house              http://tutoring.sylvanlearning.com/high_school_reading
          or school affect their reading comprehension skills.              _comprehension.cfm1
          Camosa (1987) in De Leon (2009) states that if the           [2] Ambruster, B.B. & Osborn, J.H. (2002). Reading
          child is exposed to reading materials it would have a             Instruction and   Assessment (Understanding the IRA
          great impact on the reading habit and interest of the             Standards). Boston. A Pearson Education Company.
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                                                                       [3] Ariola, M.M. (2006). Principles and Methods of Research.
     4.   Learner-related factors such as prior knowledge,                  Sta. Mesa, Quezon City. Rex Printing Company, Inc. 15
          understanding, and motivation if low hindered the
                                                                       [4] Bernardez, E.B. (2009). Developmental Reading 2
          reading comprehension skills of the students.                     (College Text for BEEd New Curriculum). Intramuros,
          Furthermore, prior knowledge plays a vital role in                Manila. Mindshapers Company, Inc. 2, 5, 6, 26.
          learners’ comprehension by the schema theory.                [5] Breiseth, L. (2016). Reading comprehension strategies for
                                                                            English language learners. www.ascd.org/ascd-
8. RECOMMENDATIONS                                                          express/vol.5/511-breiselth.aspx. 28
     1.   For future researchers, may know-how and in what             [6] Brown, E. (2000). Reading Theories for First Graders.
          way these factors affect the reading comprehension                http:// www.ehow .com/info8695951_reading-theories-
          skills of the learners. They may also conduct the                 first-graders.html. 5, 6.
          same study in different schools and different grade          [7] Cabigaoa, J.R. (2012). Saloobin at Mungkahing
          levels.                                                           Pagbabago sa Nilalaman ng 2009 Gabay sa
     2.   For administrators of the school, they may conduct                Ortograpiyang Filipino (Perception and Proposed
                                                                            Change on the Content of the 2009 Manual of
          programs to motivate learners in reading and                      Orthography                 in                Filipino).
          improve their reading skills as well.                             https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337110977_Sa
     3.   Parents may be aware that reading materials in the                loobin_at_Mungkahing_Pagbabago_sa_Nilalaman_ng_2
                                                                            009_Gabay_sa_Ortograpiyang_Filipino_Perception_and
          house are important and this will help their children             _Proposed_Change_on_the_Content_of_the_2009_Man
          to improve their reading skills. Different types of               ual_of_Orthography_in_Filipino
          books are a big help for gaining sufficient prior            [8] Cabigaob, J.R. (2012). Magsikap. Mamulat. Magsulat.
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     4.   Teachers may think of other strategies wherein                    mga Mag-Aaral sa Filipino Baitang 7 (Improving Basic
          learners will be motivated to read. There are three               Writing Skills of Grade 7 Students in Filipino).
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          Breiseth (2016) that proposed and modified by the                 g_Kasanayan_sa_Pagsulat_ng_mga_Mag-
          researcher. First, build background knowledge (Pre-               Aaral_sa_Filipino_Baitang_7_Improving_Basic_Writin
          reading activity). This may mean providing a brief,               g_Skills_of_Grade_7_Students_in_Filipino
          simple outline of a reading assignment or an oral            [9] Cabigao, J.R. (2014). Improving Pupils' Academic
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                                                                            Partnership.
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          listen or read. This may lead the learners to recall              mproving_Pupils'_Academic_Performance_Through_St
          and obtain existing knowledge and at the same time,               rengthened_School-Home_Partnership
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          teach      vocabulary      explicitly   (Vocabulary              School Heads and Their Impact on School Outcome,
          development). Focus on key vocabulary. Ensure                    Organizational Culture, and Principals' Performance.
                                                                           https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337110967_Pr
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          use that word, understand multiple meanings, and                 _Impact_on_School_Outcome_Organizational_Culture_
          decode and spell that word. Then incorporate new                 and_Principals'_Performance
          words into discussions and activities. Third and last,

                                                          www.ijeais.org/ijamr
                                                                                                                                  21
International Journal of Academic Management Science Research (IJAMSR)
ISSN: 2643-900X
Vol.5 Issue 5, May – 2021, Pages: 15-22

[11] Calmorin, M.A. and Calmorin, L.P. (2007). Research
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